The Los Angeles Clippers take on the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night in what will be the return of Kawhi Leonard. Norman Powell, however, is also looking forward to his return to the city where his NBA career started.
Powell, who played his first five-and-a-half seasons with the Raptors, will play his first game back in Toronto since the franchise traded him to the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2020-21 season.
The former 2019 NBA Champion is looking forward to his return to The North.
“I’m just excited to be back in the city, for the game itself, just ready to compete against them,” Powell said before the start of the Clippers' road trip. “I love competing against Fred [Van Vleet]and Pascal {Siakam], man, my old teammates, we like to get after it and talk a little bit.
“I’m just looking forward to being back in the city, it’s probably the one thing I miss the most. I’m definitely looking forward to the video tribute so that’s what i’m looking forward to.”
On Media Day back in September, Norman Powell said there wasn't any one matchup he was looking forward to or had circled on his radar outside of the game against the Toronto Raptors in December.
“I'm excited about every matchup and every team — there's not one team that I have circled probably besides the Raptors on my schedule when I look at it. But besides that, I'm looking forward to playing against everybody.”
The Clippers are coming off an impressive come-from-behind victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday night while the Raptors haven't played since December 23rd.
In six seasons with the Raptors, Powell averaged 9.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game mostly as a reserve.
Powell really came on in the 2019-20 season after the departure of Kawhi Leonard, averaging 16 points on 49.5 percent shooting. The following season, Powell averaged a career-high 19.6 points on 50 percent shooting with the Raptors before being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
With the Clippers this season, Powell is averaging 15.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists, mostly as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, as head coach Tyronn Lue said a few weeks back.
“Sixth Man of the year that should be his goal and he has a great opportunity to do that.”
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